The Sun. — London, England, 1810-02-03 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS, FRIDAY, FEB. 2. General GASCoIGNE presented a petition from the inhabitants of the city of Liverpool, praying for a continuance of the A& prohibiting the distillation from grain.—Ordered to lie oti the table. Mr. P. MOoRE seeing an Hon. Gentleman in his place, wished to. ask if it was the intention of Go= , vtrowent to revive the Committee for inquiring into the affairs of India? Mr. WALLts answered ip the affirmative. REVERSION BILL. _ Mr. BANKES brought in a Bill for rendering the A& passed in the 48th year of his present Majesty, prohibiting grants of places in reversion, perpetual. It was read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time on Monday. A Person from the African Company presented certain accounts at the Bar of the House. Ordered to lie on the table. Sir JOHN SINCLAIR gave notice, that on Monday he would move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend an At for Repairing the Highways. Lord COCHRANE gave notice, that he would, on Monday, move for copies of the Oaths administered to Courts Mart►al and Judge Advocates. Returns of the Ships entering and clearing out of the ports of Scotland for the last year were brought up from the Commissioner of Customs in Scotland, and ordered to lie on the table. Mr. JAcNsori brought up the Report of the Com mittee on Scotch Tudicature ; which, after a few words from Mr..l-loaNEa and Mr. RYDER, \vasor dered to be printed. Mr. CALCRAFT moved for- returns of all the Fo reign Corps and Colonial Troops in his M.:je!lty's service ; as also the numbers of the sianding Militia, together with the lists of deserters, &e.—Granted. Mr. WHARTON moved for the returns of the 5 per cent. Annuities, and of the amount of Exchequer Bills for 1 . 809, outstanding and unprovided for.— Granted. CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE. OF WAYS AND MEANS. The Order of the Day being moved for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of Ways and Means, Mr. W. SmITLI rose to objea to the manner in which the new Chairman or the Committee bad been appointed, and to propose another. The SPEAKER observed, that to enable the House to decide on thatquestion, it was necessary he should resume the Chair. Mr. W. S:strrn briefly replied, and the Speaker again took th. , Chair. Mr. W. Smvirt then propcscd Mr. D. Giddy. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER observed, that this question ought to have been decided on going into a Committee of Supply. If such irre gular proceedings were to be admitted, on the next Committee another new Chairman might be two posed. He thought ih Gc,iticuudn wh,, had been called t ., 1 the Chair on a former eVening ought to be still continued in that situation. Mr. W. SMITH, was aware that the Chancellor ,of the Exchequer was correa in what he - had stated as to the usages of the House, but it had ever been usual to have a soft of an understandiiig Who was ,to be called upon; and it had never befcire occurred, that after a long debate, a Gentle man .should be called to the chair.—(Ao, no, no !) --[Here Mr. Smith was informed that the appoint-_ ment bad been made early in the evening.] He was not sorry to be corrected in that particular; be hoWecer bad other grounds for obj cling to the.ap pointment of I'lr. Lushington to the situation; as in tliepresent stale 'of affiirs, he could hardly think ,ha !Gentleman qual:fied to fill it. He had been a Alember 27 years, and remembered four if not five Centlernen'who had seccessively held that office. He remembered Mr. Gilbert, Mr. .1-lohhouse, Mr. Alex, .ander, and the last Gentleman' who filled the Chair with so much - 6edit to himself. All of them Were Gentlemen whb, having been in the House for. a !lumber of years, had pc culiar claims on the at ten tion of the Membets : a man ottght not to be placed in' that situation, who had got his lesson to learn, but one who having already learnt it had only to practise it. It was the stron g conviCtion felt on that Lead which placed the Speaker' in that situation be so worthily filled. The Hun. Gent. Who had'presided over the Committee on a former evening, though be wished to speak ot him with the greatest respeCt, having sat in that House but two or three years, could hardly be thought - to possess the necessary qualifications. The great increase of business in that House rendered the duties of that situation more arduous tlein ever, or why had the , sum usually ~rated for the services of the Gentleman - filling that situation been increased, from soul, to 120 W. He did not rittarrel with the Hon. Gent. (Mr. Lushing ton), he only quarrelled with his want 'of those qua lifications which it Was almost 'physically impossible he could possess. He had bad some thoughts Of pro posing Mr. Hobhouse, but he knew that Gentleman was particularly attached to one party in that House, and be thought impartiality in a Chairman of the Committee very desirable. That was the rea son he proposed . the Hun. Gent. lie had named, who being so little con tithed with either party, bethought , most eligible to fill the situation. Mr. D. GIDDY was greatly obliged to the Hon. Gent. for his good opinion, and for the honour.he had done him. He was not aware of th e H on . ,G,entiematt's intention. He had no thoUght of offering himself on the occasion, though it their choke had fallen pn him,, he should have been arm inus,to' dis Charge the duties of the situation in a sa tisfAOry wanner. , Air.-1105e . ,, though tin felt the highest-sentiments of reseed for the Hun. Gentleman who had been last proposed, thought the Hon. Gentleman-called to the - Chair on a tortner evening, ought not , to be 4 splated. Mr. LONG contended. the House had not been taken by surprise. It had been previously an•- nounced, in fad, as a notice of• the Committee had been given.' The - Hon. Gentleman callecF- to the Chair was competent to the discharge of thb, duties et the situation. • . Mr. LVSHINGTON was aware that the Hon. Gen tleman • (Mr. Gi'ddy)' might be better qualified for the situation than Ilimself. It was for the House to decide which of them should preside in their Coin mittees. Whether their choke fell on 11;n1 or not, he trusted his conduet would merit their approba tion. After a conversation, "in which Mr. H. Montgo mery, Mr. Wharton, Mr. Ponsonby, Sit C. Adams, and Mr. Fuller participated, Mr. W. SislITH declared that a wish for impar tiality in ,the chair had influenced bis conduct. He thought.tmliad brought the SubjeCt forward at the proper .timer, It could not be said he wi3hed .to take them by surprise, when he had brought the case before so full a House. Since, however, the Hon. Gentleman he had - proposed seemed to de, cline, it certainly was not for him to press the sub jett farther. The question was then put and carried, almost unanimously, in favour of Mr. Lushington. Mr. GASCOIGNE begged to ask an Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Martin) there being witnesses in waiting to_be examined, if he would not agree to postpone his-Resolutions relative to the Third Re port of the Finance Committee ? Mr. MhreriN said, from a mature consideration of the Resolutions-proposed by the Rt. Hon. Gentle man (Mr. Perceval),!he found that he must object to four of them ; and to do so with effea, be must enter at considerable length into the question. lie had, therefore; no desire to press them to night. It would be recolleded, however, that these Reso- lutions had been postponed during great part of the last Session. He Itoped, therefore, that this day week would not be considered as an inconvenient day on which to bring them , on. One res Sen for this was, that, whether the one or the other set of Resolutions was adopted, it would be necessary to give etied to them, that one or more Bills should pass through both Houses during the present Ses sion. Mr. PERCEVAL agreed in this, and hoped that, unless something very particular ocetirred, the. Re solutions might be discussed this day se'nnight. Mr. PONSONBY said , th4t fur one he would v.itla reluaance introduce any measure of. importance pending the Inquiry into the Expedition to the Scheldt. He knew well the inconvenience thai must result from any thing of the kind. The House saw a gieat dtal of it last Se,,sion. Nothing could be soincoilit'enient, and he - hoped his HonirUr ablo Friend (Mr. Martin) would not press his' Ile soltaiOus till after that Inquiry was disposed of. • STA.NDING ORDER. Mr. WH ITBREAD said he should on Monday move for printing such of the Papers relative to America as should then be' produced. Being on his legs, he could not but express a hope that the Right H,on. Gentlernan (Mr. Yorke) would not perseVere in his intention, of tnoving.the Standing Older, of which he had given notice. The SPEAK ER said, sf) long as the, Regulation al,- luded to, 'continued a Standing Order of that House'," any Gentleman whO chose had a right to Move it. It was a subject which he could not allow to be discussed. _ _ TRADE OF THE COUNTRY. e Mr. ROSE presented certain Papers, agreeably to, order, shewing the Exports and - ImportS for the last year. • He particularly begged to call the atten tion of the House to these Papers, in, consequ,en‘.p of misrepresentations which had gone abroad. It had been represented that our Import Trade was carried on solely by paying for out Imports in bul lion : and it had been'stated by a Gentleman, Justly entitled to take' a lead 'in such queitions in that House, that it - Was in consequence of the adventage arising front Mr. Erskine's temporary understanding with America that our Trade had beep - lately se . great. The balince of 'Trade, however, 'at this moment was nearly 16 millions in our favour, our Exp Ors exceeding our Imports by that sit.m.--e The value of our .Exports; consisting of British ma . -‘: nufa6lu:e alone, amounted, as appeared front the . papers now presented, to 55 miilions—White the whole Imports amounted:only to 45 millions; 'and; if the whole year could have been taken;'ihe ba-' lance of our Exports of British rnanufadure alone, would be greater than our Imports by nearly twelve millions. The value of the money sent, out of the country was about six millions, while 'that bionght into it was upwards of ten millions, leaving • a balance in our favour of train' four to five mil lions. As to the idea of all the' money going out of the country, and that ruin ft - 41st be' the consequence, there 'was nothing in it. The' trade with the United States of which we had been , deprived, had been made up to uS by our increas ed trade with other parts of . America.' lie 'should shew how this was made out. Our trade with the' United States amounted to semething inure than eleven millions. To - all - other partvof America it then amounted to about seven making a total of 18 millions. In _the last yeaf our trade to other parts of - America' alone amounted to 23 mil=' lions, being five millions more than the whole trade had been fbrmerly. • It `wouldalso appear from those papers, that instead of hiving received no cotton wool from America, we had last - year imported more than any one year before. As to the rate 'of 'ex change; this was not 'the firopertime tnenterinto it. Mr. HORNER said, he had been inistepresented to the Right Honourable Gentleman, if it was supposed he had stated that'all out Imparts were paid for in bullion. He had not said so. He had only stated,. that to a certain degree it' had become u part of our Exports, in a different manner fiat what it had hie therto done. • As - to our internal situation, there was no man who enjoyed the use of his senses, but•must be convinced, that in spite of the waste.and expend iture incurred in an unnecessary war, that the growth of this country exceeded the most extravagant dictions that had been made of it, and that it still continued to go on in an • increased degree. There was an inereised demand for ail ingenious and•use ful inventions. Canals, a property above all others, • which shewed the. extent of our im provements, adeanced to 'a most rapid growth ; and a sudden start of agricultural improvement, particularly in the southern counties, had lately been made. As to the Exports so greatly exceeding the Imports, it was inapo,sibie, in the very nature of things, that it could continue. • Mr: Ross explained. Mr. BARING thought the subject unfairly intro duced at present, and reserved himself ti 1 a fit op portunity, when he should shew that there was no fotrhdation for imputing the. alleged prospelity of our Trade to the measures of Ministers. Mr. PERCEVAL said they arrogated nothing to themselves, which the tad did not warrant. All the merit ;they claimed ivas, that the system they had adopted to meet the regulations of tile enemy for the ruin of our commerce, had - not been found so inefficient, or rather so mischievous, as they had been represented. The papers were then ordered to be printed, WALCHEREN EXPEDITION. Lord PORCHESTER begged leave before he moved the Order' of the Day, to observe, that there appear ed ty him to be certain deficiencies in the written . evid4nce which had been submitted to the House for its consideration. There was nd plan of operations, which it was natural to suppose, must have , been delivered to the Commander in Chief for his in , struetion in the condu& of the business, complicated as it was, involving a variety of considerations, and a service in which there was to be a co-operation of sea and land service. It was impossible to suppose that there were no such plan and instruaions for the regulation of the Commander in Chief, in dif ferent events. It also seemed that the dispatches from the Commander; of the Expedition to Mi nisters were not complete. The first time that there was any allusion made to an ulterior Ojai, was that dispatch in which it was stated, that this 'ulte rior object must be abandoned. Could the House lea iieve that there were not deficiencies in both of these respeas ? For his own part, he thought the thing was indisputable. He hoped, however, he should not be told that they were private communica tions. He should say nothing more on the subjea at present, but should content himself with giving notice, that 'he should move for these papers on Monday. His Lordship then moved, that the Papers now before the House be referred to the Committee on the Inquiry into the Ekpedition to the Scheldt. Lord tASTLEREAGH, before 'the commencement ... of the Inquiry, wished to state to the House that he by no Means considered the Papers circulated by - the Ministers as furnisliing a full and satisfaaory View of the whole circumstances conneaed with the Expedition. There was secret information to be examiried, which ' must come before a ' Secret • ComMittee. But 'even the Records Of the War QfliCe would not afford the 'means of complete information. This could be found only in the 4e cords of ad the' Departments which had wrought. together hi the prepartition and condua of the 'Ex- Pedifion. This tie. stated, that. the House might no.; from the Want of 4411' infOranation in the War Otlite, nedessatily infer that oeglea ha,d prevaileit in that , Departtnent. He 'would, howev'el, dili _L gently attend to the progress of The Inquiry, Old when information on any partiCular pat appearect necessary ha would suggest where it was to be found: He - was anxious tt; - refrain as mu - eh -as . pUssibl4 &Om' any uenecesSark interference in 'the anvestigation e The Noble Lord (Pora:hUater), had certainly ate' best pretensions to ' condoa it in his' own 'way. But' he Wished much to knoW from the Noble Lord what'course he intended to purSne .? 'What branch' he rpeant to bring forward first , aod in what 'order he proposed to proceed ?‘ He thought the prefer= ' able mode would be to consider, first; the policy'Of the measure. As to that point, there was very little inforthation on the face or the papers presented to ,h. i-li k . l'lp consideration which led his Ma jesty's. Ministers' to resolve upon this 'Expeueirel, the state of readiness in which the Army was at 'the time, the means Of conveyance which exi‘ed, the inttirinition 'given byloreige powers, and the incli:- nation manifested by there on 'this subjei:,t,, with se , vela'. 'other matters, were yet to be explained, as lit tle appeared respecting these topics on the face of the papers presented. ' But, independent of this, the general means Of the criUntry to meet the views of foreign powers mtist be considered, and also he' I probable expence (if the' Expdition :it the time it was undertaken. He trusted that all - these things would 'by some 'means Or other be brought befine . Parliament. The representations of foVeign powers, and every other Clictunstati cc' conneeel with. its oil gill; must be knco.v`n, in order to judge of the expe- - . diency of the undertakirw. As far as he understood at present, it' would net i ' ?e necessary to go into any"', gieaf extent of evidence to, shew the groUnds on which the GovernMent had 'resolved on the.EXpedi tio'n '; and he would do his endeavour to explain, as clearly and concisely as possible, the view which, as be conceived, the Cabinet had in the 'undertaking. But.if the Noble Lord chose ratherto go into the ekeetition of the plan in 'the first place, 'he would ndt presume to oppose that course, although he doubted 'whether it•was the most convenient. He only begged leaVea to have it understood' that the policy .of the measio - e - Was not clearly explained in the'papers now...before the House. ' He would net" undertake to detail the naval and military execution of the plan,'hut the grounds of the iestructions to the Commander under the 'Sign Manual were of a general . nature, and. did not travel into professional' details. The Admiralty instrations, the House t w o ou t l i d le se A e u rri it o a 4 de d, than i l ander_ tlo b i e se cit rf his i r seth A e l N aje a s v t a y l Board consisted of men more competent to give di reelions Of this nature, than the Ministers who were concerned in the military part of it. It would be . tea approved travelling trio . much into 'detail •to mentioo all the - circumstances conneaed with the executida—but he would explain the bbjease in viol—the acted upon---and the' grounds on wh i ch the operations in Walcherenand Sotith Bevetand—e and examine the causes which' interrupted*the main e ,• object of the Expedition, which undoubtedly W as ' the possession of Antwerp. He begged not to be understood to blame' the Commanders, who, more ' than any' others, were interested in' the 'succesS o f the Expedition. He himself had td receive much information on the subjea -He concluded by , re- - peating, that 'he thought the • Noble Lord should begin• with the policy of the Expedition—being, however, prepared to accede to any other mode of proceeding that might be most agreeable to his Lordship. .. Lord PORCFIESTER thought it impra&icable to se parete the 'question - of policy altogether from the other queitions. 'His objeet was to follow the order of time, and to examine—ist, The aransaaions previous to the departure of the Expedition, which Would include the policy, preparations, Stc.'&c.— ebtl : 4 : vle d :oll , ltoneil lis T i tenets whole. octomeo:insoec,st:otleoii connected followed:d 0 : . pv i dn a oaysi‘i:c, t o ni yitifiiheelnti wouldft tht e ,rter)aea E ni l x dgp pei arise lei e i sar t eis i Expedition—and ect n d \ lni,g , ttleol a 3 do l d c lul h t , ito(enTr appearedle l h htl n oee e . - evacuationpnpt\e—viriaoeirri presented House. Sii FRANCIS BURDETT observed, that the }IOUS, ought to have the instruaions of the Commander ' the Officers of Division under him—ed, The, ports made by these Officers to him-3d, The iv.L litary Journals of the Staff Officers. Lord CASTLEREAGH and Sir F. BURDETT theta communicated in a low tone across the table, but we were unable to colleen what they said. Mr. CROKER observed, that no department liable to be called upon for papers ought to be taken by surprise, and therefore would be obliged to the Noble Lord to say whether he wanted any paper .- and of what nature, if any, from the Admiralty De partment ? Mr. CHARLES WYNNE wished to know whether , any other instruaions had been given to Lord Chat ham than those contained in the papers before the . House ? Whether he was ordered to 'besiege Flushing with the whole of his force, or to proceed to take Antwerp by a coup-de-main? Lord CASTLEREAGH answered, that there were DO other regular instrudions given but what were contained in the papers already laid before the House. Mr. TLERNEY, in answer to what, fell from Mr. C oker, observed, that it was not usual on such ,OCC4I - to give notice of what papers might be wanted from the different departments —nor, indeed, was it possible to do so. In the course of the Inquiry it wouhl be seen what papers it might be absolutely necessary to call for, and they would then be order ed—a reasonable time being allowed for their pro cluaiOn. The object would be, to bring the whole into as small a compass as possible, and to finish in as short a time as the proper investigation of the subject would permit, bur there Was no wish to take any department by surprise. Mr. PERCEVAL agreed with the last speaker, that no previous notice could with certainty be given ; and that all that was necessary was to avoid taking any department by surprize. In case such docn menis should be of 'a secret nature, it would be proper to 'appeint a Secret Committee, in the first instance, to examine them ; and if they thought it , unnecessary to conceal them, taey might more 'openly be 'produced. There was tat desire on his side to delay the Inquiry, and lie hoped there was no . desire on the'ofher side to precipitat e it. As the Nettie Lord propOsed w enter upon the policy of the measere, lu the first instance, he (Mr. Perceval) would Move for a Secret Committee on Monday ; and gave notice. accordingly: Mr.. TIERNEY obsetved; that as the Inquiry was -rather again4t the inclination of the Right Hon. Gentleman, he woold wish that his Noble Friend 4finuld root leave the inotion for a Secret* 'comm . ittete to hiin—but would this very night propose that the Chairman should Mole for one. The Right Hon: - GeutterOan bad been barber unfortunate in his-choice • • • Mr. CANN.O4"G, while the continued to -think that • this Inquiry had better have been left, to some other tribunal, 'disclaimed any intention of proposing one different from that which the House had fixed upon. He' how wished to state the line of conduct which he thought most ptoper lot him to pursue in the eourSe of this investigation, and the extent to Which he conceived himself partidularly connected with the expedition 7 ---ist. As to the point of policy, he thonght,iiinlself coMpletely - responsibl e fur tnitt iu the 'fitost comprehensive sense Of the Word--2d, As to the execution of the plan, he also considered hints self responsible for that in the parliamentary sense of the word—of course, not bt:i.. responsible for the detailed Military and Naval operations. Taco came, 2dly, the Military and Naval execotion—and for 'this he 'could not, he conceived, be personally responsible. to the evacwtion of the Island of Walchereii, he had incurred no responsibi . iiiy eo that point. - fie, however, gave no °pillion en that. sobjebt, either one way or. other. Vor the Origia of the Expedition, which was the triost materi ii part, he considered himself deeply responsible. He wished that blame might attach no where-,—but, as. it was possible that blame would rest somewhere, lie was anxious th at 'hi s c on d uct should be understood. If he was too active in ,the investigation, it was pos-. sibie that his Conduct might be construed into a with, to 'throw the blame 0 that pert of the meas.. sure, fiar which he was himself responsible, along' with others--and to fix it upon that part for - which he was not responsible'. Desirous - of avoiding to give any preteke for such a construction, he would diligently attend to what passed, but abstain, as much as possible, from taking any act i ve part i n ' the investigation. 'Time papers were then ordered to be referred to the Committee of Inquiry. Lord PORCHESTER moved that the House resolve itself into the Committee ; and the Speaker having put the question for leaving the Chair, • - M r . YotiK,B immediately observed, that there were strangers in the House, and called aro the' Speaker 'to enforce the standingorder for their ex. elusion. Strangers were, of course,' ordered to with draw, and the Gallery continued shut during the remainder of the business. [We were not again admitted, but we under stand, that on Sir D. Deudas (the first witness) be ing'called in to be examined, som e diffi cu l ty arose as 'to the propriety-ofexamining Sir David without the especial leave' of his Majesty. Sir David was, directed to, withdraw,' and after some discussion, at the conclusion of vk Mich the examination of Sir David was 'not proceeded oh, the House adjourned tilj Monday.j MAI IS. Aar& iv ED-I Brazils, I !Malta, z Lisbon, Dublin, 2 Watericird. Ua —z Guttenburgh, a Waterford. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT TWI.LVO O'CLOCK. Consols - -67 j consols for Account 68 THE SUN. SOLI?4 QUIS DIC/Iti FALSUM AUDIAT ? L 0 N D 0 N. SATURDAY, FRBRVARY q, 1810. Last night French Papers to the 95th ult arrived. They are %ery barren of information. No events of any importance appear to have ocetv:ed in Spain, except that JOSIIPH BUONAPARTE is said to have ad. vanced into the province of Valencia, w'kth an inten. tior. nar 1 gu( to foil Jul ha' the NN t 11 ha ac gl di